A course of 240 miles allows for quite a variation in strategy. Where to stop and rest, where to push on; there’s no right or wrong way. There are advantages and disadvantages to every plan, and consequences for every choice you make out there.
Over the last five years, my good friend Sean and I have often found ourselves racing each other directly over the final miles. Our strategies and abilities are similar, and regularly place us in a similar position late in the contest. This battle plays out each summer, and we’ve pushed one other to better finishes more than once.
On an otherwise deserted road around midnight, with about 90 miles remaining, we made the decision to work together to try and finally break the 4 day mark. While not unprecedented, it’s a benchmark neither of us had yet been able to achieve. Over the next thirty hours we had more than a few unexpected surprises – some good, others less so. We struggled together, supported and motivated each other, and in the end….. fell just two hours short our goal.
Despite having come so close, and missing it by so little, I’m not saddened in the least. For me what matters is the time, but not the one recorded on the results sheet. Rather, it’s the time we spent together. We’ll always have the memories of what happened last night, at so many places on that seemingly endless dark stretch of asphalt. And that simply cannot be replaced.
2025 #TridgeToBridge240
Official Time: 4d 2h 16m 06s
